Up or Down ?

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Been looking at Pilot watches from IWC of course as well as many other manufacturers. I noticed that the triangle from just about everyone except IWC has it pointed down vs. up.

Please help educate me as to any history or reason for the difference if there is one. I recognize that it is in the 12:00 position to identify the correct time reading position during darkness, but is there more story behind the triangle and dots ?

Interesting to look at. I see two watches with no triangle, instead there is a 12. Are these two the rarest of the bunch? Maybe also the most valuable of them? By coincidence I am wearing my Vintage Collection Pilot's watch, inspired by IWC's first Pilot's watch. That doesn't have a triangle either.I just think it is a super looking watch. Do you notice the marker on the 1? It signifies 13 today, Friday 13.

Kind regards,Paul

What you do may not be so important, but it is very important that you do it well. (my variation of a saying by Gandhi)

I see two watches with no triangle, instead there is a 12. Are these two the rarest of the bunch? Maybe also the most valuable of them?

The two Mark 11s without the triangle and with a 12 in that image have fake dials.The first version of the Mark 11 did not have the triangle. The triangle replaced the 12 later, along with other modifications, for better readability, in the poor lighting conditions of the cockpits of the early jet age.

This one was used by the BOAC in from 1952 to the late 1970s for celestial navigation, and the dial was never improved.

clepsydra Wrote:I see two watches with no triangle, instead there is a 12. Are these two the rarest of the bunch? Maybe also the most valuable of them?

The two Mark 11s without the triangle and with a 12 in that image have fake dials.The first version of the Mark 11 did not have the triangle. The triangle replaced the 12 later, along with other modifications, for better readability, in the poor lighting conditions of the cockpits of the early jet age.

This one was used by the BOAC in from 1952 to the late 1970s for celestial navigation, and the dial was never improved.

Enjoyed seeing the collage of MARKS. Thank you Michael.

So based on history and military spec's, the triangle pointed up. It appears that the original MARK did not utilize the dots. The pic here shows the dots in play at the 12 with no triangle. Was the first sole purpose of dots then used as a indicator for correct time reading in darkness ?

Since all manufacturers that I've looked at so far ( with the exception of IWC ) point the triangle down, does this mean that IWC has a patent or exclusivity to the upright design similar to an exclusive right of Zenith to use the word PILOT on a dial ?

Finally, going back to the dots ( and I just love the raised Platinum dots on Alan's BP ) were they then just incorporated as modern design without any other significance as was when they might have been used as a 12:00 position indicater without the triangle ?

BTW, the triangle/dot combination is what attracted me to getting a Pilot model as my first IWC.